Postgame Avs-Wild, with video

Long day here; flew to Minny in the morning, went to game, back home in Thornton now, writing this before 9:30 p.m.

My story in the paper tomorrow will be heavily critical of the Avs’ PK play, the sole reason the Burgundy and Blue lost today. That, and lots of brain cramps and soft plays. Some of you are going to say I’m getting all Negative Nancy here and should just stay positive, but that’s not how I operate. Not to sound like I’m up on a high horse, but after watching excellent hockey for the first 12 years of my newspaper career or so, I view things only one way: what is it that is missing to make a team a championship team? What are the things that need to be ironed out before that happens?

There are a lot of positive things about the Avs’ situation right now and I’ve written all of them. But it’s time for a trip to the woodshed.

To wit:

_Slashing penalty taken by Darcy Tucker with under 10 minutes left, leading to the winning goal.

_Guys like David Jones shying away from contact near the red line and icing the puck instead of taking the extra stride, taking the hit and getting it in deep. Those kinds of things tell one thing to the opposition: this team is soft, we can hit ‘em and win that way.

_Too many times where a guy has the puck on his stick in the defensive zone, but panics at the oncoming check and puts a clearout attempt that’s too weak and gets intercepted by the opposing point man at the blue line.

_Too many forwards who are too high in the defensive zone – meaning the slot area is too wide open to opposing forwards. The D-men are pinched down low because they don’t have the speed and mobility to get the puck and get it out too quick, and the forwards do them no favors by being too far away for any puck support.

A couple other quick jabs: John Liles was terrible today, and has been the last three games. He’s making over $4 million a year, and simply has to be better. He needs to get the puck OUT of the zone quicker and more efficiently and he needs to make quicker decisions with the puck offensively – a frequent problem.

Craig Anderson wasn’t very good today, and probably hasn’t been all week. A couple of basketball-sized rebounds, especially on the first goal against. Can’t get on Andy as the root of the problem lately, but the magic act of the first month isn’t there right now.

Darcy Tucker — what can you say, he was just very bad today and something just seems amiss since he returned from his concussion. He was playing very well before that, but things seem off now.

Tom Preissing — No comment.

And finally, Marek Svatos has got to stop costing his team a goal every night with lazy stick fouls. He took a horrible hooking minor today that led to Minny’s third goal, halting Avs momentum in its tracks after Paul Stastny — who had a good game today — scored.

Here’s some video taken after the game, and I think you can see the unhappiness in coach Joe Sacco’s face:

And finally, a couple minutes with Matt Duchene, who had a solid game today but had more buzzard’s luck with a hit post:

You are 100% correct. They played like sh*t and anyone who watched saw it. They should be embarased. They need to play better. Yeah, no need for you to be a homer, we have enough of those.

Avalanche_Fan_in_Mi

Enjoyed the interview you gave to the Wild radio broadcast team. Fans may not want to hear the negative stuff, including myself at times, but that is the way you have to be. Tell it as it is as difficult as it may be to hear. Galiardi certainly deserves some blame here.What was he thinking? That should have been an easy goal.

Marty

keep telling it like it is and calling it like you see it. We get enough watered down “analysis” from the company network. A lot of issue start with not clearing the puck–it's been an issue for years. I would rather ice the puck than not clear the puck and we never seem willing to do it. The Avs also seem reluctant to bump the opposing goalie or cream someone who hits Andy.

al

All year I've noticed an overall lack of toughness on this team. Only once have I seen someone finally do something when the other team takes exception on Andy. I believe it was Quincey during the Vancouver rout at the Can a few weeks back…But other than that, there's not a lot of big hits or sticking up for your team-mates. Sure, Briere got suspended for his thuggish move, but how's the team going to let him skate around untouched the rest of the game? It's just like AD pointed out: once the other team knows they can push you and your goalies around and get away with it…I'd really like to see this team pick up the physical play, and start making the opposing forwards pay the price, just like how they're doing with our forwards on the other end of the ice.Lastly, it's not the first time we've seen Tucker take a bad penalty that's costed the game; and Svatos, dude, you gotta keep your stick down. AD tweeted it best awhile back: “Svatos nightly stick foul” When are these guys going to realize they're not doing the team any favors by sitting in the box?

Dave

I've gotten to the point where watching games on Altitude is unbearable unless I turn the volume off.Mike Haynes used to be a favorite broadcaster of mine, until he became a Kronke minion. I cannot stand when the opposition scores, and he just basically dismisses the goal with his unprofessional, dry, stoic “Score” call. Yes, Mike, I know the Avs just got scored on, and you're a company man, but for the love of god, call the goal as you see it, not as Altitude sees it. Haynes has also made a regular habit of saying at some point EVERY game “This is the point in the game where Craig Anderson needs to give the Avs that big save.” Ummm….Haynes? Anderson has been bailing out the Avalanche CONSTANTLY this season. CONSTANTLY. How many more big saves does this guy have to make? I mean, yes…..he's not playing as well as he was, but when you're a goalie and your team leaves you out to dry to face between 35-40 shots per game, then you're going to give up a lot of goals. I'm not excusing Anderson for his questionable play. But how about if the boys at Altitude try and come up with something else for Haynes to focus on?McNab. Oh my god. McNab……ugh. Peter Mcnab might know a lot about hockey, but he is easily the worst color man I have has the displeasure of listening to. How many more times do I have to have McNab tell me how many games an Avs defenseman has scored a point in? How many times do I have to hear Haynes and McNab drooling all over Matt Duchene, when Duchene hasn't done dick in said game? How many times do we have to hear Haynes and Mcnab create, out of thin air, some kind of positive spin about the team?It's really disgusting to me how Altitude has mandated all of this “be positive all the time” crap for broadcasts. All I ask from broadcasters is to tell it like it is. There is no need to sugarcoat an Avs loss where they played like absolute crap. Who's with me on this?

al

If the Avs are getting scored on, the last thing I want is our announcer to get excited about it. That being said, I agree that Haynes used to be a quality announcer on the radio. Once he made the jump to TV, he's totally changed. Between the Kroenke “good spin” rules and McNabb dumbing him down, he's hard to listen to nowadays.To his credit, he tried going back to radio, but they wouldn't let him. Too bad for the rest of us…

Taber

Dave- If you don't already have NHL Center Ice get it and watch games with other teams announcers for a while and then go back to watching Haynes and McNab. They're not a bad duo at all. Alot of other teams have absolutely horrible announcers who know nothing about hockey and can't even pronounce players names correctly, so be happy that both Haynes and McNab know a thing or two about hockey. That being said, I do agree with you that it is annoying when they don't call the game as they see it at times, but you really can't blame it on them. As for Haynes calling on Andy to make a big save, he only says that because he knows that Andy is gonna have to make a big save or two for the Avs to win the game, I think you're misinterpreting his statement.

Taber

and I definitely agree with Al that I don't want to hear Haynes and McNab get excited about another team's goals. Its ok for them to point out nice plays and talk about the skill level of players on other teams, but there is something about getting excited over another team's goal that really pisses me off. I'd much rather hear Haynes say his “shot, score” every time the opposing team scores than hear him yell “scooooooooooooore” in his super excited voice after a big Avs goal.

Mike

You are 100% correct. They played like sh*t and anyone who watched saw it. They should be embarased. They need to play better. Yeah, no need for you to be a homer, we have enough of those.

Anonymous

Enjoyed the interview you gave to the Wild radio broadcast team. Fans may not want to hear the negative stuff, including myself at times, but that is the way you have to be. Tell it as it is as difficult as it may be to hear. Galiardi certainly deserves some blame here.What was he thinking? That should have been an easy goal.

Marty

keep telling it like it is and calling it like you see it. We get enough watered down “analysis” from the company network. A lot of issue start with not clearing the puck–it’s been an issue for years. I would rather ice the puck than not clear the puck and we never seem willing to do it. The Avs also seem reluctant to bump the opposing goalie or cream someone who hits Andy.

al

All year I’ve noticed an overall lack of toughness on this team. Only once have I seen someone finally do something when the other team takes exception on Andy. I believe it was Quincey during the Vancouver rout at the Can a few weeks back…

But other than that, there’s not a lot of big hits or sticking up for your team-mates. Sure, Briere got suspended for his thuggish move, but how’s the team going to let him skate around untouched the rest of the game?

It’s just like AD pointed out: once the other team knows they can push you and your goalies around and get away with it…

I’d really like to see this team pick up the physical play, and start making the opposing forwards pay the price, just like how they’re doing with our forwards on the other end of the ice.

Lastly, it’s not the first time we’ve seen Tucker take a bad penalty that’s costed the game; and Svatos, dude, you gotta keep your stick down. AD tweeted it best awhile back: “Svatos nightly stick foul” When are these guys going to realize they’re not doing the team any favors by sitting in the box?

Dave

I’ve gotten to the point where watching games on Altitude is unbearable unless I turn the volume off.

Mike Haynes used to be a favorite broadcaster of mine, until he became a Kronke minion. I cannot stand when the opposition scores, and he just basically dismisses the goal with his unprofessional, dry, stoic “Score” call.
Yes, Mike, I know the Avs just got scored on, and you’re a company man, but for the love of god, call the goal as you see it, not as Altitude sees it. Haynes has also made a regular habit of saying at some point EVERY game “This is the point in the game where Craig Anderson needs to give the Avs that big save.” Ummm….Haynes? Anderson has been bailing out the Avalanche CONSTANTLY this season. CONSTANTLY. How many more big saves does this guy have to make? I mean, yes…..he’s not playing as well as he was, but when you’re a goalie and your team leaves you out to dry to face between 35-40 shots per game, then you’re going to give up a lot of goals. I’m not excusing Anderson for his questionable play. But how about if the boys at Altitude try and come up with something else for Haynes to focus on?

McNab. Oh my god. McNab……ugh. Peter Mcnab might know a lot about hockey, but he is easily the worst color man I have has the displeasure of listening to. How many more times do I have to have McNab tell me how many games an Avs defenseman has scored a point in? How many times do I have to hear Haynes and McNab drooling all over Matt Duchene, when Duchene hasn’t done dick in said game? How many times do we have to hear Haynes and Mcnab create, out of thin air, some kind of positive spin about the team?
It’s really disgusting to me how Altitude has mandated all of this “be positive all the time” crap for broadcasts. All I ask from broadcasters is to tell it like it is. There is no need to sugarcoat an Avs loss where they played like absolute crap.

Who’s with me on this?

al

If the Avs are getting scored on, the last thing I want is our announcer to get excited about it. That being said, I agree that Haynes used to be a quality announcer on the radio. Once he made the jump to TV, he’s totally changed. Between the Kroenke “good spin” rules and McNabb dumbing him down, he’s hard to listen to nowadays.

To his credit, he tried going back to radio, but they wouldn’t let him. Too bad for the rest of us…

Taber

Dave- If you don’t already have NHL Center Ice get it and watch games with other teams announcers for a while and then go back to watching Haynes and McNab. They’re not a bad duo at all. Alot of other teams have absolutely horrible announcers who know nothing about hockey and can’t even pronounce players names correctly, so be happy that both Haynes and McNab know a thing or two about hockey. That being said, I do agree with you that it is annoying when they don’t call the game as they see it at times, but you really can’t blame it on them. As for Haynes calling on Andy to make a big save, he only says that because he knows that Andy is gonna have to make a big save or two for the Avs to win the game, I think you’re misinterpreting his statement.

Taber

and I definitely agree with Al that I don’t want to hear Haynes and McNab get excited about another team’s goals. Its ok for them to point out nice plays and talk about the skill level of players on other teams, but there is something about getting excited over another team’s goal that really pisses me off. I’d much rather hear Haynes say his “shot, score” every time the opposing team scores than hear him yell “scooooooooooooore” in his super excited voice after a big Avs goal.

Chantal Rouleau

If the Avalanche is going to take penalties it might as well be punishing penalties. Run the opposite goaltender, bash the guy that just ran over our goaltender, get into a fight with a player that has been anoying to our team. Those are penalties we can accept because they will show the other team we are not here to play like sisis !

Chantal Rouleau

If the Avalanche is going to take penalties it might as well be punishing penalties. Run the opposite goaltender, bash the guy that just ran over our goaltender, get into a fight with a player that has been anoying to our team. Those are penalties we can accept because they will show the other team we are not here to play like sisis !

Chantal Rouleau

If the Avalanche is going to take penalties it might as well be punishing penalties. Run the opposite goaltender, bash the guy that just ran over our goaltender, get into a fight with a player that has been anoying to our team. Those are penalties we can accept because they will show the other team we are not here to play like sisis !

DieHardAvs

Right on AD; if you stop calling it as you see it, then where else will we see what is really going on? Funny, you write about Svatos, Tucker, Lyles and Jones. I would add Wolski as well and McCleod had a couple of horrible defensive plays last night. The rookies and youngsters you can forgive a mistake, but the effort is there, more than I can say about the vets. Hey, are not these the same guys we were talking about last year? I for one was looking for Lyles to go at the deadline, he looks lazy already and the season is only 1/4 over. When is Adam Foote going to take these guys to the “woodshed”? How about Scott Hannah, these are the on-ice leaders that need to get more involved in the dressing room. I was back on board, but if I don't see desperation hockey from this group pretty soon then I am out of here again. I have been to 2 half full games at the Pepsi, up from 0 last year. If the Avs want us to pay good money then perhaps they might give us something worth paying for.

Adam F

I agree 100%! McNab is AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!! He needs to go away!

Adam F

I agree 100%! McNab is AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!! He needs to go away!

Anonymous

Right on AD; if you stop calling it as you see it, then where else will we see what is really going on? Funny, you write about Svatos, Tucker, Lyles and Jones. I would add Wolski as well and McCleod had a couple of horrible defensive plays last night. The rookies and youngsters you can forgive a mistake, but the effort is there, more than I can say about the vets. Hey, are not these the same guys we were talking about last year? I for one was looking for Lyles to go at the deadline, he looks lazy already and the season is only 1/4 over. When is Adam Foote going to take these guys to the “woodshed”? How about Scott Hannah, these are the on-ice leaders that need to get more involved in the dressing room. I was back on board, but if I don’t see desperation hockey from this group pretty soon then I am out of here again. I have been to 2 half full games at the Pepsi, up from 0 last year. If the Avs want us to pay good money then perhaps they might give us something worth paying for.

Adam F

I agree 100%! McNab is AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!! He needs to go away!

al

I was back on board, but if I don't see desperation hockey from this group pretty soon then I am out of here again.

Maybe you should change your name to “DieHardBandwagoner”

Jack

Dave, Well said! I watched the Avs-Leafs game earlier this year on the Toronto feed and their announcers were great. When a Leaf made a turnover or other mistake, the announcers calmly pointed out the mistake, called the guy by name, and then got on with the game. They didn't rag on anybody or drag it out, but they actually REPORTED on the game. It was refreshing.

Nick

Run the opposite goaltender?Real nice. Sure, let's just go injure other players just because we can't beat teams fair and square. That's just great.What a moronic comment.

Nick

Run the opposite goaltender?Real nice. Sure, let's just go injure other players just because we can't beat teams fair and square. That's just great.What a moronic comment.

al

I was back on board, but if I don’t see desperation hockey from this group pretty soon then I am out of here again.

Maybe you should change your name to “DieHardBandwagoner”

Jack

Dave, Well said! I watched the Avs-Leafs game earlier this year on the Toronto feed and their announcers were great. When a Leaf made a turnover or other mistake, the announcers calmly pointed out the mistake, called the guy by name, and then got on with the game. They didn’t rag on anybody or drag it out, but they actually REPORTED on the game. It was refreshing.

Nick

Run the opposite goaltender?

Real nice. Sure, let’s just go injure other players just because we can’t beat teams fair and square. That’s just great.

What a moronic comment.

Nick

Run the opposite goaltender?

Real nice. Sure, let’s just go injure other players just because we can’t beat teams fair and square. That’s just great.

What a moronic comment.

TMO42

Dave, you are a freakin MORON. Peter McNab is the best color man on any broadcast for any sport. I prefer John Kelly to Mike Haynes, but Haynes is still top notch.Both have SOLID reputations in the industry, but oh, we should listen to some tool named 'Dave'? Did you happen to notice the lapel pin on their jackets?

Peterman

You know what? Ask what Wayne Gretzky thinks about fighting. I'd imagine it would be something like, “Gee I really liked having Dave Semenko on my team, because no one would dare take a run at me.”As much as you might hate getting dirty, it lets the other team no you can't be pushed around. I don't advocate “running” the goalie, but some extra-curricular activities are nice to see. I'm not writing about the “staged” fights, but bare-knuckled fisticuffs between heated frustrated players… like Svatos vs Carcillo. If McLeod were playing in 1989, he'd have 300 PIMS a year. The instigator rule is hampering the league (IMO) and needs to be re-examined. Owen Nolan wants to run Anderson? Maybe the 36-yr-old would think twice if he had to answer to the “Koach” (David Koci).A few games ago I saw our opponent run Paul Stastny head-first into the boards. That kind of hit, whether legal, or not, should not go unpunished. If David Koci were playing in 1986 and saw that, the refs would have to pull Koci off the turtling offender kicking and screaming, throwing hay-makers the whole time.

Peterman

I don't think running the other goalie is a good solution, but throwing our weight around some more certainly isn't a bad thing. Maybe Koci could stand to instigate a brawl more often.

Peterman

You know what? Ask what Wayne Gretzky thinks about fighting. I’d imagine it would be something like, “Gee I really liked having Dave Semenko on my team, because no one would dare take a run at me.”

As much as you might hate getting dirty, it lets the other team no you can’t be pushed around. I don’t advocate “running” the goalie, but some extra-curricular activities are nice to see. I’m not writing about the “staged” fights, but bare-knuckled fisticuffs between heated frustrated players… like Svatos vs Carcillo.

If McLeod were playing in 1989, he’d have 300 PIMS a year. The instigator rule is hampering the league (IMO) and needs to be re-examined. Owen Nolan wants to run Anderson? Maybe the 36-yr-old would think twice if he had to answer to the “Koach” (David Koci).

A few games ago I saw our opponent run Paul Stastny head-first into the boards. That kind of hit, whether legal, or not, should not go unpunished. If David Koci were playing in 1986 and saw that, the refs would have to pull Koci off the turtling offender kicking and screaming, throwing hay-makers the whole time.

Peterman

I don’t think running the other goalie is a good solution, but throwing our weight around some more certainly isn’t a bad thing. Maybe Koci could stand to instigate a brawl more often.

Peterman

You know what? Ask what Wayne Gretzky thinks about fighting. I'd imagine it would be something like, “Gee I really liked having Dave Semenko on my team, because no one would dare take a run at me.”As much as you might hate getting dirty, it lets the other team no you can't be pushed around. I don't advocate “running” the goalie, but some extra-curricular activities are nice to see. I'm not writing about the “staged” fights, but bare-knuckled fisticuffs between heated frustrated players… like Svatos vs Carcillo. If McLeod were playing in 1989, he'd have 300 PIMS a year. The instigator rule is hampering the league (IMO) and needs to be re-examined. Owen Nolan wants to run Anderson? Maybe the 36-yr-old would think twice if he had to answer to the “Koach” (David Koci).A few games ago I saw our opponent run Paul Stastny head-first into the boards. That kind of hit, whether legal, or not, should not go unpunished. If David Koci were playing in 1986 and saw that, the refs would have to pull Koci off the turtling offender kicking and screaming, throwing hay-makers the whole time.

Peterman

I don't think running the other goalie is a good solution, but throwing our weight around some more certainly isn't a bad thing. Maybe Koci could stand to instigate a brawl more often.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.

Chambers covers college and professional hockey for The Denver Post. He has written for the Post since 1994, after dumping his first 9-to-5 office job a couple years out of college. He primarily follows the University of Denver hockey team and helps cover the Avalanche.